Christmas miracles really do happen! Safyre Terry, an 8-year-old burn victim who lost her family in an apartment fire back in May 2013, wanted nothing more than a Christmas tree full of holiday cards this year — and social media heard her plea.
According to a Facebook page made in her honor, Safyre has received hundreds of cards from people around the world who have been touched by her plight. (A family supporter, Kevin Clark, asked Safyre’s aunt Liz Dolder for permission to share a photo of the young girl along with an address for people to mail their cards.)
“I really think I am dehydrated from crying so much … This is absolutely amazing, it takes my breath away,” Dolder posted to the page on Wednesday, Dec. 9. “We, my family and I have been through so much darkness of this world. Then to see the most powerful BEAUTY of the world. The world coming together to make Safyre’s wish come true is unfathomable. All along we knew God saved her for a reason, never in our wild dreams, did we think she would move the hearts of many worldwide.”
The Today show reports that Safyre’s father, David Terry, and her siblings Layah, 3, Michael, 2, and Donovan, 11 months, were all killed in the May 2013 fire; Safyre was left with burns on 75 percent of her body.
The only reason she survived, according to the report, was because her father had cradled her in his arms, shielding her from breathing in the smoke.
Safyre’s mother signed over custodial rights to the state shortly thereafter, and Dolder then petitioned to become the little girl’s legal guardian.
“Safyre lost everything — her father, her mother, her brothers, her home, her favorite toy, her favorite outfit — everything that was familiar to her,” Dolder told Today. “She even lost the one thing we all take for granted — her reflection. But she wakes every morning with a smile on her face. She is the true definition of hope, faith, and love.”
